A 2013 Book on Women and Money, and the Questions It Leaves Open

Money is one of the resources that gives a person room to act. In a market economy, its absence can narrow choices long before happiness enters the discussion.

That room is distributed unevenly. The position someone reaches by their twenties or thirties depends on wages, costs, family resources and the kinds of work available to them.

Why Does Money Pass Women By?

That is the question in the title of Han Dong-cheol’s book. He writes about why he thinks women accumulate less and what he believes an individual can do about it.

He puts much of the blame on spending and appearance. The claim tells you something about the assumptions behind the book, and leaves out structural questions about pay, employment and care.

The practical part turns to building a starting sum, including things the author thinks someone can do while still a student.

Making Time for Something That Could Earn Money

Han asks what would happen if some of the time people spend without much intention went toward something they wanted to learn to do well.

His examples include watching less television, thinking through a possible business and learning what can be done with savings once there are some to work with.

He puts particular emphasis on several sources of earned income. The figure he proposes is five for a two-person household.

Two jobs for each person and one shared activity would make five. The book pushes the idea quite far, including renting out a home and moving in with relatives, or working another shift after finishing a regular job. The arrangements show how much unpaid time and family support the proposal can require.

Han imagines the resulting savings becoming capital the household can invest.

The Rule of 72

The book introduces a rough estimate of how long a sum takes to double. Divide 72 by a constant annual percentage rate. At 8 percent, it estimates about nine years, assuming the returns compound and leaving out taxes and fees.

Investing the Same Amount at Regular Intervals

With dollar-cost averaging, a fixed contribution buys more units when the price is low and fewer when it is high. The method changes the timing of purchases. A return still depends on what the investment is worth when it is sold.

Han also offers a 60:40 split between riskier and more conservative assets as an example of an allocation he favours.

What Do You Do after Accumulating Money?

People may think carefully about earning a larger sum and less about what they will do with it, Han argues.

He asks the reader to imagine the decisions that come afterwards, including what it takes to keep enough and what they would want to use it for.

Two People Who Gave It Back

The book points to Baek Seon-haeng and Yu Il-han, both remembered for returning substantial resources to society.

Their examples show wealth in use. The question is what happens to the money after the work of accumulating it is over.

What Can You Learn about Wealth?

Han wanted wealth to be studied as a subject in its own right. Whatever one thinks of the term, making, keeping and using money all call for knowledge that people may not learn by accident.

I recognise the wish to have enough room to help someone else. It is easier to look beyond your own immediate concerns when the next expense has already been accounted for.

That is the part of the book’s question I would carry forward. What would you want more room to do, and what kind of work would it take to get there?

Book Information

Why Does Money Pass Women By? (Korean title, translated)

Author

Han Dong-cheol

Publication date

15 May 2013

ISBN13

9788962170771

View the book on YES24

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